Guest Ravenbomb Report post Posted June 28, 2002 I'm pretty torn between Akira and Ran right now...Ran had awesome acting, writing, directing, and story...but Akira was really cool and had the street/mutation scene... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest C.H.U.D. Report post Posted June 28, 2002 Once Were Warriors kicks ass on so many levels. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest razazteca Report post Posted June 28, 2002 Cinema Paradismo is one if not the greatest forgein films in recent times. Recently the DVD with an hour of extra footage has been released. Yojimbo by Akira Kurosawa which is the basis for several is not all of Clint Eastwoods westerns, Star Wars, Chow Young Fat movies, Last Man Standing. Run Lola Run has won several awards Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Shaved Bear Report post Posted June 28, 2002 i saw this movie Appleseed, it was only like 50 min long, but i thought it was sweet Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest IDrinkRatsMilk Report post Posted June 28, 2002 The Killer, directed by John Woo, starring Chow Yun Fat. It was so good it almost killed my interest in action movies, cause nothing matched up to it. Transcended the action genre. Hard Boiled was also very good. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest godthedog Report post Posted June 28, 2002 'akira' isn't even in the same class as 'ran'. there are just too damn many great foreign films out there to name one. but i can try to narrow it down to the best foreign directors, and try to think of each one's best movie: kurosawa: agreed on 'ran'. 'seven samurai' almost gets it, but i got to see 'ran' in the theater and was BOWLED OVER by how painfully gorgeous it was. herzog: 'aguirre, the wrath of god'. really beautiful movie in a grimy, depressing way. klaus kinski rules the world. bergman: 'scenes from a marriage'. i was never a big fan of bergman's whole body of work--never cared for his pregnant pauses, & thought was was often too pretentious for his own good. but this one alone makes him one of my favorites, because it's so honest and because liv ullmann is a goddess who puts every american actress who ever lived to shame. bunuel: 'un chien andalou'. i know it's just a short film, but i had to include it because it's so god damn good. one of the best opening scenes ever; uses the format of film & storytelling more inventively than anything else i've ever seen, it took decades for everybody to catch up to it. truffaut: 'jules & jim'. great movie about characters & emotions. that's all i can really think to say about it. and as a special bonus, the most overrated foreign movie ever: jean-luc goddard's 'breathless'. goddard got into the business on the coattails of the new wave, & was only able to start making movies because he had some much more talented friends. i don't give a shit how much the film community cream themselves over this movie, it has no ideas at all. i can sum up the whole 90 minutes in 6 words: young, shallow criminals, and jump cuts. i'm sure there's more great ones, but that's all i got off the top of my head. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Kotzenjunge Report post Posted June 28, 2002 I'm glad someone else mentioned "Lola Rennt" before I did, otherwise I'd have to smack you all. (Lola Rennt is the German title) That movie just owned on so many levels. I mean OWNED~! It boggles my mind still when I think about the first time I saw it, I was blown away by the sheer genius. Fastest 80 minutes of your life. I wish it was longer though, but that would probably ruin it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest J*ingus Report post Posted June 28, 2002 Do movies from England count as foreign? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest massivHEDtrauma Report post Posted June 28, 2002 I'm going with a newer movie, which is sort of a cop-out I guess, but I really loved Life Is Beautiful. Truly heart-wrenching but still funny and still just a great concept, a concentration camp dramedy. Roberto Benigni's performance deserved the Oscar, too. I also really liked City of the Lost Children (based primarily on the art direction), Ghost In the Shell (donno why, always liked it more than Akira), The Killer (John Woo fucking rocks), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (another cop-out, I know), and Raise the Red Lantern (fairly unknown I think, deals with marriage in the Far East). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest RickyChosyu Report post Posted June 28, 2002 I have to go with Seven Samurai. I loved Ran, but I just couldn't get into it as much as Seven Samurai. I always thought Akira smoked Ghost in the Shell. Weird. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest dreamer420 Report post Posted June 28, 2002 i liked il postino. the star who name escapes me right now is terrific and was nominated for an academy award after he passed away. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest art_vandelay Report post Posted June 28, 2002 Shaolin Soccer starring Stephen Chow. The effects in this thing ar on par with any big budget Hollywood movie, and the thing is hilarious as well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Incandenza Report post Posted June 28, 2002 Where to start? The Tin Drum The Seven Samurai The 400 Blows I could go on all day, but those immediately came to mind. Most recent great foreign language flick I've seen is Y Tu Mama, Tambien. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest C.H.U.D. Report post Posted June 28, 2002 Shaolin Soccer starring Stephen Chow. The effects in this thing ar on par with any big budget Hollywood movie, and the thing is hilarious as well. Great movie! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Anorak Report post Posted June 29, 2002 A couple of other directors.... Peter Weir: His later Holywood career is patchy (Witness, Dead Poets Society, Fearless, Green Card, Truman Show) but his earlier Australian films are very good and worth seeing. The Cars that Ate Paris (1971) Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) The Last Wave (1978) Gallipoli (1981) Takeshi Kitano: Writer, director, comedian and all round TV personality with a speciality for gangster films. Sonatine (1993) & Hani-Bi (1998?) are my favourite films of his. Other films: My Life as a Dog: Funny, sad and uplifting. La Haine: A modern classic. Delicatessen: Weird but brilliant, made by the same directing team as City of the Lost Children and similar style and tone to it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest ArkhamGlobe Report post Posted June 29, 2002 The Seven Samurai gets the top prize from me, but Throne of Blood, Kurosawa's adaption of Macbeth is almost as good, as was Ran. Right behind it would probably be Suspiria, by Dario Argento. Nice to see Aguirre get a mention, as that is another favorite of mine, as well as another of Herzog's films, Fitzcarraldo. Other favorites are Shoot the Piano Player, (Truffaut) the 400 Blows (Truffaut), the Virgin Spring (Bergman), La Cérémonie (Chabrol), Delicatessen (Jeunet and Caro), the City of Lost Children (Jeunet and Caro), Amarcord (Fellini), The Killer (Woo), Hard-Boiled (Woo), Profondo Rosso (Argento), Inferno (Argento), Nosferatu (Murnau), the Man from Majorca (Widerberg) and more, I'll post more if I can think of them... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Vyce Report post Posted June 30, 2002 You could list most of Kurosawa's films on this list. Most are classics that stand the test of time. I'd go with Seven Samurai as the best. Ran is a VERY close second though, and it's really Kurosawa's masterpiece....but I still prefer SS. I love Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon very dearly, but I don't think it can compare with Kurosawa's masterworks. City of Lost Children is one of those insanely bizarre movies that is endearing all the same. Especially if you're into dark fantasies. And Hard Boiled is one of my favorite action movies of all time. Not just because it's chocked full of Chow Yun-Fat goodness, but also because it boasts one of the biggest body counts EVER in film. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest razazteca Report post Posted June 30, 2002 I second The Tin Drum that is one of the best movies that show the perspective of WWII from the German side. Plus that scene on how they catch fresh eels is well shocking. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest ArkhamGlobe Report post Posted June 30, 2002 More Kurosawa goodness: Stray Dog, Hidden Fortress, Kagemusha and (I can't believe I forgot this one the first time) Rashomon. Kurosawa was god. I mean, seriously, I don't think I can think of any director with as many films of such high quality on their resume as Kurosawa. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest godthedog Report post Posted June 30, 2002 And Hard Boiled is one of my favorite action movies of all time. Not just because it's chocked full of Chow Yun-Fat goodness, but also because it boasts one of the biggest body counts EVER in film. the second time i watched that movie i tried to tally up all the dead bodies, & i ended up with something like 246. i believe there were also 50-something explosions. i never really enjoyed the 'city of lost children'/delicatessan' style of film. i really don't like movies with such elaborate production values (especially the set designs) that seem to dwarf the characters. i hate to say this, but...it's almost like it's too technically well-done, and the characters get lost in all of it. i have the same problem with terry gilliam. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
